I'm in the middle revamping my units in preparation for the beginning of school, and I recently started reading a new book about teaching writing to middle schoolers, which, coincidentally, suggests that, "we need to apply technology to the teaching of writing" (Culham 18). In summary, it stresses the importance of using technological tools that students love to aid in the teaching and learning of writing, even if we, as teachers, might approach these tools anxiously and cautiously (Culham 18). It was so great to be able to connect the information that we have been covering in class to new information that I am trying to implement in my teaching.
Think about how far we've come. Yes, we may have entered with varying degrees of knowledge and exposure to using technology in our classrooms, but speaking for everyone, I think I can confidently say that we've all learned something (correct me if I'm wrong :)....). We might not be IT geniuses, but we certainly know a whole lot more than what we came into this class with. Use this new knowledge wisely to benefit all of our students. Best wishes to all for a successful school year :)
Works Cited (can't get this to format properly, so it will have to do!)
Culham, Ruth. Traits of Writing: the Complete Guide for Middle School. New York: Scholastic, 2010. Print.
Yes, I do think we need to incorporate technology... We just have to make sure we are not using technology for the sake of using technology... It is so important that we keep student learning of content at the core of all our decisions!
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